Improvement in sewing-machines



J'. L. FOLLETT.

sEWmG-Mcmm.

Patented April 4, 1876.

No.175,60Z.

Wa'www: Ira/@722624- ATEN'r OFFICE;

JOSEPH L. .roLLnfr'T7 or NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN S EWlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 175,602, dated April 4,'1876; application filed September 6, 1575.

To all -w/Lom 'it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH. L. FOLLETT, of

the city, county, and State of New York,

` arin or lever, which is designed in its upward movement to carry withit the needle-thread to a proper distance; anda guide or cast-off, whichstands at about right angles to the take-up lever, and is provided witha longitudinal slot, through which the thread passes across the path ofmovement of the take-up lever. The lever in one direction passes by thethread; in the other direction it lifts the thread to an extentdetermined by the angle of inclination of the slot, with respect to thelever, for Which purpose I prefer to make the slotted guide or cast-ofiadjustable to any desired angle of inclination with respect to saidlever.

One characteristic of this take-up is that the moving member is notcontinuously connected with the thread, but only intermittently engagesit.

Anotherl characteristic is that the thread, while thusintermittentlyengaging With and operated by the moving member, is heldin proper position across the path of movement of the moving member by aguide, which not only maintains it in engagement with the movingmemberfor the proper length of time, but ,at theexpiration of that timecompels the disengagement of the two.

A third characteristic is that the guide is adjustable to vary,according to circumstanees, the length of time during Which the threadand moving member may remain engaged.

I shall now refer to the accompan yin g drawing in order to explain themanner in which my invention is or may be carried into effect.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of only so much of a sewing-machine as isneeded for purposes of this explanation.

A is the goose-neck, and B the head, of .a

sewing-machine of ordinary or suitable construction. C is the movingmember of the take-up. and D is the guide and cast-ofi, hereinbei'orerefer-red to. The latter-is shown detached in Fig. 2. The moving memberU here consists of 'a vibratory lever, hung on a pivot, a, and put inmotion by any suitable means, preferably by crank or eccentric on thedriving-shaft of Lnesewing-machine. During the upward movement ot' itsfront end it takes up the thread, and its `movelnents are so timed withrelation to those of the needle that it acts to take up the thread afterthe needle leaves the cloth and before it enters it again. The outerextremity of the lever is forked or pronged, the two forks, b b,straddling the guide and cast-off D. This guide and cast-off is, in thepresent instance, a plate provided with a longitudinal thread-slot, c,and arranged in an upright, or substantially upright, position in thehead B. :The forked end b b, When the lever is about horizontal, extendsforward a little beyond the slot. The length of this portion of thelever, to state it more particularly, is' such that the end b b will,when below the point where the thread normally stretches across the pathof movement of the lever, extend just far enough beyond the slot toinsure its engagement with the thread when it rises. The plate Dinny bestationary. In that case it is placed with the slot c at such aninclination that the end b b, When -rising, and in so doing moving inthe are of a circle having its center at a,\will pass to the rear of theslot at point Where it is desired to cast off the thread. The thread isnow entirely disengaged from the moving member, and is free to yield tothe action of the sewing mechanism, which draws it taut in usual way,thus bringing itback to its normal position. The prongs b b are beveledand rounded off on the under side, so that when they descend they passby the thread Without difliculty. The normal position of the thread isassured by guides, eyes, or hooks d, through which, and the intermediateslot c, it passes, in the manner shown. The path of the thread isindicatedby dotted lines. E represents a tension device, from which thethread passes i .through d, c, and d, and thence to the needle. Ashereinbefore intimated, I prefer to make ot' the slot c with respect tothe lever, and so causing the latter to remain a corres'pondin gl ylonger or shorter time in engagement with the thread. By this means,without altering the tension on the upper thread in lock-stitchmachines, the lower or upper thread may be' placed in any position inthe stitch, and this while the machine is in motion. In other words, thelower thread may be made to appear on the top of the goods or the upperthread below, simply by varying, in the manner described, the amountdrawn' up by the take-up.

' I have described one form of take-up embodying my invention. The samemay be varied, however, without departure from the principle of myinvention. The take-up may be arranged on any suitable or convenientportion of the sewing-machine head. Its arrangement and details ofconstruction will, of course, vary according to the requirements of thevarious classes of machines to which it may' be applied. In the specialorganization shown there may be one fork or prong operating between thetwo plates, or in conjunetion with one plate only, if desired. I prefer,however, the arrangement represented in the drawing. The construction ofthe plate also may be varied. The slot may eXtend through to the top ofthe plate, and the two fingers which form the sides of the slot may bebrought together, so near as to exercise a slight yieldin g pressure onthe thread. Or, instead ot' this, I can employ an arrangement suchasindicated in Fig. 3, where the plate is split for a portion of itslength, and the two edges touch, or nearly touch, one another, the outerstrip D' being elastic, so that the thread, after having been drawn upand cast off, will deseend only as it is pulled down by the action ofthe stiteh-formin g mechanism, the pressure exerted to holdit being alight and yieldin g pressure, just suificient to prevent it from fiyingaround loosely. The construction of this member of the take-up maybeotherwise varied, so long as it possesses the essential characteristicshereinbefore recited. A spring or other device may be used to keep theslack taut when cast off, but I prefer to have the thread entirely freefor the use of any device below the machine, so that the thread may actunretarded.

A take-up, operating on the plan above described, is particularlydesirable in all sewin gmachines, as it enables the machines now in useto be run by a regular motion of the shuttle and needle, and, in fact,all its parts, by taking up the slack thread after the needle leaves thegoods being sewed, and before the needle enters the same again, doingaway with irregular motions, saving friction, power, wear, and noise,and admitting of a greater degree of speed being attained, and. a mucheasier operation of the machine generally.

Having described my invention and the manner in which the same is or maybe carried into efi'ect, what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is as follows:

1. A sewing-machine take-up, the moving member of which is arranged andoperates to alternately engage and leave the thread, substantially inthe manner set forth.

2. In a take-up, the combination, with the' moving member, of a guideand cast-oii', which maintains the thread and the moving member engagedduring the proper length of time, and at the expiration of that timecompels their disengagement, substantially as set forth.

3. The vibratory take-up-lever, in combination with the slotted guideand cast-oli' plate, or its equivalent, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the vibratory takeup lever, of'the guide andcast-oli' plate, adjustable substantially as described, to disengage thethread from said lever earlier or later in the movement of the latter,as described.

5. The pronged or forked take-up lever, in combination with the slottedguide and castotf plate, or its specified equivalent, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination of the take-up lever, the guide and cast-off, andguide eyes or hooks, through which and the intermediate guide andcast-oli` the thread passes, and is extended across the path of thetake-up lever, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 26th day ofAugust, A. D. 1875.

JOSEPH L. FOLLETT. Witnesses:

OHAs. V. WARE, J AMEs A. PURDY.

